Researching Victorian music journals

More than 200 music journals were published in Britain over the course of the 19th century. In the same period, most daily and weekly newspapers carried a regular column on music, while monthly magazines and quarterly literary reviews published much of the best music literature available, in the form of essays and book reviews. As a window on changing ideas and musical practices by people of more than one social rank, periodicals offer an unrivalled look into the past.

How does a modern reader access all this material? More crucially, how can we measure any one source against such a huge mass, weighing its value and meaning?

This chapter lays out the field, exploring literary types, modern research tools and information sources, suggesting research questions that might guide future work. Also included is an annotated list of fourteen key music journals, with a guide to UK and US libraries holding complete hard copies.

Historic press material on music reflects literary publishing traditions such as anonymous or pseudonymous writing and dependence on trade support from the bookselling industry. Studying it reveals how music journalism developed as a profession and how specialist music readerships were fostered across the 19th century.

We still need dedicated studies of individual music titles, journalists and publishers in their own right. Quick data-base dips alone - for quotes about composer reception - may betray a naive, even misleading approach, and fail to make the best of this rich resource. Be responsible when you access or interpret press sources.

Leanne Langley is a historian and writer who specializes in the musical culture of Britain, 1750-1950. Challenging old stereotypes and stimulating fresh thought, she has worked as lecturer, senior editor, seminar convenor and advisor. Her current research centres on public orchestral culture in late 19th- and early 20th-century Britain.